“There are some really brilliant minds behind the creation of it,” says the New York City-based Newman, the tour’s music director, on the phone from a tour stop in Sarasota, Fla.

A few of those minds are Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool. No, those aren’t the names of theater heavyweights. They were the principal members of the alt-punk-rock band Green Day at the time of the release of the album “American Idiot,” a 2004 conceptual work that saw the band really maturing from a songwriting standpoint.

Boasting such killer tunes as “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Are We the Waiting,” “Letterbomb” and the multi-movement “Jesus of Suburbia,” “American Idiot” tells the tale of an anti-hero named Jesus of Suburbia, who leaves the city and the people around him out of frustration. He gets mixed up with freedom fighter St. Jimmy and a rebel girl, Whatsername. A theme of rage vs. love permeates the album, which is very aggressive in parts and heartbreakingly soft and melodic at others.

“American Idiot” the musical, directed and co-written by Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening”), debuted in 2010 and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical and won two other Tonys. It features choreography by Steven Hoggett (“Black Watch”) and orchestrations and arrangements by Tom Kitt (“Next to Normal”).

Very early on in the creative process, Newman says, a workshop version of the musical was presented for Green Day, and the group was very excited about what they saw.

“The band saw it and gave their immediate approval, and they got involved with the team and helped shape it,” he says.

Newman wasn’t around for the creation of the show, knowing much of what he does from the theatrically released documentary on the subject, “Broadway Idiot.” He was brought on board for the second national tour and along with being the music director plays keyboards and conducts the group, which also consists of two guitarists, a bassist and a percussionist. They’re used to be a cellist on our, but that person was eliminated in favor of a recorded track.

As the music director, he is responsible for making sure the tour sounds keeps sounding as good as it did when rehearsals wrapped.

“After five months on the road,” he says, “it can start to slip away or people start to take liberties, which is inevitable on any show.”

Obviously, it is important for a show that blends hard-rock elements with Broadway-style singing to sound just right.

“In every new city, we do a soundcheck, first with the band and then with the cast,” he says. “It’s all about finding the balance and feeling the room. At the end of the day, the lyrics have to come through.”

Ah, the lyrics of Armstrong. Listen to his passionate vocals on “American Idiot,” and you’re likely to be stumped in spots trying to figure out just what he’s singing. On the other hand, play the original Broadway cast recording of the show and much if not all of it becomes quite clear.

“It’s a fine line to walk,” he says. “They did a great job on that cast recording.”

“American Idiot” is a show trying to serve two crowds, he acknowledges.

“It is important for us to remain a rock show. That is a big part of our identity,” Newman says. “We get a lot of Green Day fans at the show, but they’r enot necessarily theater fans, and we want to make sure they’re happy.”

Mayer and Armstrong, who’s credited with co-writing the show’s book, expanded the album’s story with a couple of extra characters. In addition, songs from Green Day’s follow-up to “American Idiot,” 2009’s “21st Century Breakdown,” were added to lengthen the show, which is told in one act.

“It’s pretty seamless,” Newman says. “They did a great job of making sure everything flows so it’s not like, ‘That’s not on the album!’”

Asked whether the show tends to cast rockers or theater actors, Newman says it’s the latter.

“We had to make sure that we cold find people who could act these poetic lyrics and fit in this world,” he says, adding that they’re told not to try to be punk rockers. “It’s much more about, you sing, you live in this world and let it happen more than you pretend to be something.

“Nobody wants to see somebody come on stage and pretend to be Green Day.”

Plus, he says, they need performers athletic enough to handle all the movement.

“It’s kind of amazing these performers can sing what they sing while doing this choreography.”